Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Ca.) argued that the U.S. military operation in Iran is “simply unsustainable.”

Appearing Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” the conversation kicked off after moderator Kristen Welker asked the Democratic senator about Energy Secretary Chris Wright’s remarks earlier in the show, in which he said he expects the Iran war will end in the next few weeks.

“Do you accept that timeline? Do you think that’s realistic, based on what you’re seeing?” she questioned Schiff.

Noting he agrees with Wright’s comment that there are “no guarantees” in war, he responded, “It may very well have been that when they began this war they expected it to be over very quickly, that they thought it would be like Venezuela. Except Iran isn’t like Venezuela. You can’t simply pick the number two mullah to replace the number one mullah and expect things to be any different.”

Arguing that the Trump administration has no clue when the war is going to end, Schiff told Welker he “hopes and prays that it does end very soon.”

“But as we have seen, our enemy also has a vote in when things end,” he continued. “And if Iran keeps blowing up ships, or trying to blow up ships in the strait, and gas prices continue to go up and up for Americans, then it is very foreseeable we could become even more entrenched in this, to try to keep the strait open.”

Schiff went on to decry “the costs to the American people” are “already too high” before slamming President Donald Trump for failing to keep his vow to lower the cost of living for Americans.

“For the president to promise to bring down the cost of living for Americans, this is doing exactly the opposite, and raising the cost and the difficulty of Americans to be able to afford simple groceries and lodging and rent and energy prices. It’s simply unsustainable.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Welker asked the California senator if Secretary Wright had a valid point when he claimed earlier in the show that the threat from Iran is so significant that the U.S. invading the Middle Eastern country will “make the world secure.”

“No, I don’t think [Wright and the Trump administration have a valid point]. And I don’t think the president has really leveled with the American people, first by promising the American people he wouldn’t bring us into another foreign war, then [by] being unwilling to tell us what the real costs of this war are going to be. And we still don’t hear from the secretary [or] from the president [about what] the real cost of this will be [or] how long it will go on,” he responded.

Schiff argued that we’ve already “spent billions and billions of dollars” on the deadly conflict and have lost 13 service members due to the war, but still haven’t been given a “clear articulation of why we’re at war.”

“What was the imminent threat we were facing? They’ve said it was the nuclear threat, but the intelligence doesn’t back that up. They said it was the threat of being hit in the United States by ballistic missiles. That is years and years away,” he continued.

Schiff also blasted the Trump administration for delivering mixed messages about how long the war will last.

“They want regime change, but then they say they don’t want regime change. And when you ask how long this war’s going to go on, Secretary [Wright] can’t tell you, the president won’t tell you,” he told Welker. “And it’s because not having a clear [objective] in mind when we began this war makes it very difficult to tell when its objectives have been accomplished.”

Wrapping up his message, Schiff added, “This is why I think the president was so vague with you when he wouldn’t describe to you what kind of a deal he [is] looking for with Iran. Because it just isn’t clear.”

Watch Schiff’s appearance on “Meet the Press” below.

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